Fix Radio to target tradespeople in London

A new radio station aimed at builders and tradespeople is being launched in London soon.

Fix Radio says it will provide music, banter and information targeted at bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, plasterers, roofers, painters and decorators whether they work on building sites or in people’s homes.

The new station is the brainchild of Louis Timpany who came up with the concept while working on a building site to earn extra cash after graduating from Leeds University.

“I noticed builders listen to the radio all day but there was no one station they could all agree on,” says Louis. “I thought it would be great to create a station specifically with them in mind”.

Louis teamed up with radio content consultant Paul Chantler to develop the idea and research potential listeners and advertisers.

Fix Radio will feature up-tempo well-known songs from the 80s, 90s, 00s and today as well as detailed weather forecasts, sports news and “cheeky banter” from DJs. Programming will be scheduled to fit in with a builder’s day and breaks.

Louis and Paul have spent the last few months undertaking market research into the construction trade sector among hundreds of tradespeople in Greater London.

“One thing that came out strongly, for example, was the need for detailed weather forecasts throughout the day as builders depend on knowing what the weather is going to be like to plan their work,” says Louis.

“The main weather forecasts on Fix Radio every day will, therefore, be very detailed and accurate – almost like the shipping forecast for tradespeople.”

Sponsorship and advertising packages have already been pre-sold for the first six months. “We can offer our commercial partners a very pure, very targeted audience so they can engage with their customers with little ‘wastage’ on people who don’t work in the trade,” says Louis.

Paul who has 33 years’ experience in the industry and is now a director at the start-up says: “This is one of the few ideas where I can see the gap in the market both for audience and advertisers.

“I’ve recently had builders in renovating my home and they listened to the radio from 7am till 5pm every day so I see the sense in this concept.”

The new station has studios in at the Spectrum Radio building in Battersea and promises to play fewer ads than other stations and not repeat songs during the workday.

I am usually the one with the radio on site and I cannot stand all of that old crap music from the 70’s 80’s and 90’s so I wont be playing on my radio, shame as the concept is good, but would much rather have chart music playing